Officers in Alton Sterling shooting death had use of force complaints, exonerated

Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, the Baton Rouge police officers being investigated in the shooting death of Alton Sterling, faced a combined five probes into their conduct while on the force. All but one of those investigations involved actions while in contact with people being arrested, and the officers were cleared of any wrongdoing in all of the cases.

The only action contained in personnel files released in a response to a public records request Thursday (July 7) involved a car accident early in Salamoni's career that the department determined was "preventable." A "letter of caution" -- basically a warning that isn't considered a disciplinary action -- was placed in Salamoni's file.

Baton Rouge Police said the accident report associated with that case was not in the scope of the records request, but they would release the report Friday.

The most serious of the other four investigations involved a police-involved shooting that occurred in December 2014. That shooting involved Lake, a three-year department veteran, and five other Baton Rouge Police officers who exchanged gunfire with suspect Kevin Knight, who had fled the officers in his vehicle.

Police conducted an internal investigation and determined that the shooting of Knight was justified because Knight drew a firearm and fired at the officers. Knight ultimately survived the shooting.

Salamoni was investigated in August 2015 over an altercation that injured both officer and a male suspect. Salamoni was called to a residence where he could hear a man yelling inside, according to internal investigation documents, when the man came out and was "aggressive and combative," screaming obscenities at police.

After Salamoni patted the man down for weapons, he could smell a strong odor of alcohol and decided to arrest the man on charges of disturbing the peace, according to the records. Salamoni got in a scuffle on the ground with him and the man started trying to take his Taser, police said. Salamoni said he punched the man between four and six times to get him to let go of his Taser holster, and then was able to arrest him.

Salamoni told department investigators that he believed it was "100 percent necessary" to hit the man because he feared becoming incapacitated if the man was able to get hold of the Taser and use it on the officer. The man got three stitches to close a cut he received during the scuffle. Salamoni was found not to have committed wrongdoing.

Salamoni was also investigated in June of last year in connection with a chase on Interstate 12 in Baton Rouge. The records say police began pursuing a vehicle after a report of someone being pushed out of a moving Chevy Trailblazer.

The driver of the vehicle received serious injuries after Salamoni helped stop the vehicle using spike strips. The car crashed into the center guardrail and the driver staggered out, resisted arrest, and had to be tackled by other officers, according to the police records. Salamoni wasn't involved in the actual arrest because he was searching the car to make sure other people weren't in it.

Lake, a three-year veteran, was investigated in an April 2014 incident in which a juvenile he arrested required stitches to close a large cut on his chin. Lake was responding to a call about a boy who was "high on something and trying to fight people," the records say.

Upon his arrival, Lake saw the boy charging toward him, flexing his muscles and "with an angry look on his face," police said. Lake ordered the boy to show his hands and then attempted to pin him to the hood of a car and get control of the boy's arm. The two fell to the ground and the boy's chin was cut in the process.

He was cleared in that investigation.

Lake and Salamoni were also cited in letters of commendation for acts performed on the force. Both were involved in the search of an escaped prisoner amid harsh winter temperatures; the escapee was eventually tracked down by officers who agreed to stay as long as it took to find the escapee.

Also among the commendations was a letter in Salamoni's file that praised him for prying his way into the home of an asthma sufferer who was not answering his family's calls. Salamoni and another officer found the man breathing but unresponsive in a sweltering room where a space heater was left on high. Salamoni and the other officer carried the man outside to cool him off. The man remained hospitalized at the time the letter was written.